Subway (fast food restaurant)

In 1965, Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from friend Dr. Peter Buck to start "Pete's Super Submarines" in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

DeLuca's dream was to become a medical doctor and Buck suggested he open a submarine sandwich shop to help pay for his education.

The founder of Subway, Fred De Luca. By Subway - mynewsdesk

Dr. Peter Buck offered to become Fred’s partner, and their first Pete's Super Submarines" shop was opened on August 28, 1965. 

As Pete's Submarines sounded like Pizza Marines they renamed their shop "Pete's Subway." Eventually in 1968, it was shortened to simply "Subway" as it is known today.

DeLuca and Buck had set a goal of having 32 stores opened in 10 years and by 1974, the pair owned and operated 16 submarine sandwich shops throughout Connecticut. However, realizing they would not reach their 32 store goal in time, DeLuca and Buck began franchising, launching the Subway brand.

The first Subway on the West Coast was opened in Fresno, California, in 1978.

The first Subway outside of North America opened in Bahrain in December 1984.

The first Subway in the United Kingdom was opened in Brighton in 1996.

In 2004, Subway began opening stores in Walmart supercenters and within three years had surpassed the number of McDonald's locations inside U.S. Walmart stores.

A Subway in a Walmart Location.

Today, there are more than 44,000 Subway locations in 112 countries across the world, making it the world's largest fast food restaurant chain by number of stores.

Subway serves about 5,300 sandwiches every 60 seconds, which means roughly 320,000 sandwiches are served every hour.

A Subway restaurant in Dawson, Texas.

There are 12 different breads, 7 different meats, 5 different cheeses, and a variety of vegetables and sauces to choose from. In total there are about 37 million sandwich combinations available on the Subway menu. 

Subway uses 16 acres of lettuce a day. 

Translated into Mandarin Chinese, Subway means "taste better than others."

Source Huffington Post